INSTITUTO TECNOLGICO DEL VALLE

DEL YAQUI

SPACEWALK

Integrantes:

Jess Alfonso Lpez Elizalde

Ing. Industrias
Alimentarias
Materia:

INGLES

What Is a Spacewalk?
Any time an astronaut gets out of a vehicle while
in space, it is called a spacewalk. A spacewalk is
also called an EVA. EVA stands for extravehicular
activity.
The first person to go on a spacewalk was Alexei Leonov. He was from Russia.
The first spacewalk was on March 18, 1965. It was 10 minutes long.
The first American to go on a spacewalk was Ed White. His spacewalk was on
June 3, 1965, during the Gemini 4 mission. White's spacewalk lasted 23 minutes.
Today, astronauts go on spacewalks outside the International Space Station.
Spacewalks usually last between five and eight hours, depending on the job.
The world record for the most spacewalks is held by Russian astronaut Anatoly
Solovyev. He has been on 16 spacewalks and spent more than 82 hours outside in
space. That's almost 3 days of walking in space! NASA astronaut Michael
Lopez-Alegria holds the U.S. record for the most spacewalks. He has done 10
spacewalks and spent more than 67 hours.
Why Do Astronauts Go on Spacewalks?
Astronauts go on spacewalks for many reasons. Spacewalks let astronauts work
outside their spacecraft while still in space. Astronauts can do science experiments
on a spacewalk. Experiments can be placed on the outside of a spacecraft. This
lets scientists learn how being in space affects different things.

Spacewalks

also

equipment.

They

let
can

astronauts
repair

test

satellites

new
or

spacecraft that are in space. By going on

spacewalks, astronauts can fix things instead of
bringing them back to Earth to fix.
How Do Astronauts Go on Spacewalks?
When astronauts go on spacewalks, they wear
spacesuits to keep themselves safe. Inside
spacesuits, astronauts have the oxygen they need to breathe. They have the water
they need to drink.
Astronauts put on their spacesuits several hours before a spacewalk. The suits are
pressurized. This means that the suits are filled with oxygen.
Once in their suits, astronauts breathe pure oxygen for a few hours. Breathing only
oxygen gets rid of all the nitrogen in an astronaut's body. If they didn't get rid of the
nitrogen, the astronauts might get gas bubbles in their body when they walked in
space. These gas bubbles can cause astronauts to feel pain in their shoulders,
elbows, wrists and knees. This pain is called getting "the bends" because it affects
the places where the body bends. Scuba divers can also get "the bends."
Astronauts are now ready to get out of their spacecraft. They leave the spacecraft
through a special door called an airlock. The airlock has two doors. When
astronauts are inside the spacecraft, the airlock is airtight so no air can get out.
When astronauts get ready to go on a spacewalk, they go through the first door
and lock it tight behind them. They can then open the second door without any air
getting out of the spacecraft. After a spacewalk, astronauts go back inside through
the airlock.

How

Do

Astronauts

Stay

Safe

During

Spacewalks?
When on a spacewalk, astronauts use safety
tethers to stay close to their spacecraft. Tethers
are like ropes. One end is hooked to the
spacewalker. The other end is connected to the
vehicle. The safety tethers keep astronauts from
floating away into space. Astronauts also use
tethers to keep tools from floating away. They tether their tools to their spacesuits.
Another way astronauts stay safe during spacewalks is by wearing a SAFER.
SAFER stands for Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue. SAFER is worn like a backpack.
It uses small jet thrusters to let an astronaut move around in space. If an astronaut
were to become untethered and float away, SAFER would help him or her fly back
to the spacecraft. Astronauts control SAFER with a small joystick, like on a video
game.

How Do Astronauts Train for Spacewalks?

One way astronauts train for spacewalks is by going for a swim. Floating in space
is a lot like floating in water. Astronauts practice spacewalks underwater in a large
swimming pool. The pool is called the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, or NBL. It is
near NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The pool holds 6.2 million
gallons of water. Astronauts train seven hours in the pool for every one hour they
will spend on a spacewalk.

Another

way

astronauts

practice

for

spacewalk is by using virtual reality. This is sort

of like playing a video game. Astronauts wear a
helmet with a video screen inside. They also
wear special gloves. A video of what they will
see during a spacewalk is shown on the screen
inside the helmet. When the astronaut moves,
the special gloves allow the movements to be
shown with the video. The virtual reality
simulation looks and feels just like a spacewalk.